Several courthouses in north-central Wisconsin do not screen people coming into the building for weapons, an investigation by The Badger Project has found. A firearm discovered recently in one of them is highlighting that lack of security in public buildings in rural counties and local officials’ reluctance to pass the high costs of upgrades on to taxpayers.
A courthouse cleaner found a gun in the Langlade County Courthouse in Antigo just after 5 a.m. on Thursday, July 16, according to a criminal complaint from the Langlade County Sheriff’s Office. The firearm, stashed behind a toilet in the third-floor men’s bathroom, sat on top of a handwritten note containing the name of a jail inmate who’d recently testified in an attempted homicide trial. The day the gun was found, the Langlade County Sheriff’s Office arrested Harout Hosepian, who faces seven charges, including carrying a firearm in a public building and carrying a concealed knife.
Hosepian was seen on camera in the courthouse on July 15 and entered the bathroom, as well as the offices of the county clerk and district attorney, according to the complaint. That day, Hosepian carried a backpack and a cane. Authorities later discovered the cane concealed a serrated sword.
Hosepian remains in custody and is not yet represented by an attorney. He is a Chicago resident with multiple convictions, including aggravated battery and other felonies in 2016, according to the criminal complaint filed in Langlade County. In 2021, Hosepian was charged in Antigo with physically abusing a child, resisting an officer and disorderly conduct. That case is ongoing due, in part, to struggles finding an attorney. Hosepian is eligible for a public defender.
The criminal complaint says Hosepian told investigators that he had a personal connection to the attempted homicide trial, the one for which a witness’s name was found on the piece of paper under the gun in the courthouse.
The firearm discovery has spurred conversations among local leaders about how to improve security at public buildings. Langlade County’s courthouse, built in 1905, uses a single point of entry, but typically no one screens individuals entering the structure. A review by The Badger Project of other counties’ safety measures, which courthouse employees submitted to the county’s public safety committee, suggests Langlade County is not an outlier among rural counties. Neighboring Lincoln and Shawano counties also do not screen people who enter their courthouses. However, earlier this year, Shawano County approved spending up to $121 million to build a new courthouse and jail building.
The Langlade County Courthouse in Antigo, Wis. (Wyatt Massey for The Badger Project)
Marathon County – with an estimated population of 139,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau – features the most intensive form of courthouse security in north central Wisconsin, including metal detectors and an X-ray machine. This system, installed in 2017, cost more than $300,000, along with additional employee costs to operate the station, according to the Wausau Pilot & Review.
The costs of security equipment, space, and staffing can be off-putting for local governments in rural municipalities like Langlade County, population 19,500. Residents like their taxes low, Circuit Court Judge John Rhode said during the Langlade County Public Safety Committee meeting on Sept. 10, and bolstering courthouse security would require “horrendous amounts of money.”
“If we do millions of dollars on upgrades to our security, it’s going to raise taxes,” Rhode said. “It’s not a popular thing. But I think we have to have the courage to say, we have to properly protect and care for our people and provide the services that we need. We can’t just keep wishing and hoping and being relieved that nothing bad is going to happen.”
Langlade County Sheriff Mark Westen told the committee he’d proposed security upgrades to the courthouse about eight years ago, but the county board scrapped the plans over the estimated costs. Westen suggested using a single point of entry with a screening checkpoint operated by two law enforcement officers. A machine to scan someone’s belongings will cost between $80,000 and $100,000, Westen said, and two full-time employees to operate the station will cost around $130,000 a year. The county may need to spend more to build a structure for the screening area so people are not waiting outside to enter the building.
The safety committee asked Westen for a written proposal to consider. The group’s next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 1. The county board, which is in control of budgeting, would have to make the final determination on any changes to courthouse security.
In 1988, a 19-year-old man walked into the City-County Building in Madison and shot multiple people, killing two. That led the city and Dane County to enhance security at the building.
The Badger Project is an independent, reader-supported newsroom in Wisconsin.
All three of the Milwaukee Police Department’s automatic license plate reader systems will be subject to new security safeguards, department officials confirmed Wednesday.
The department’s confirmation follows Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s announcement regarding new restrictions aimed at preventing officer misuse and protecting privacy.
An MPD spokesperson said the changes will be incorporated into the department’s official policy.
The mayor’s initial announcement focused on Flock Safety, one of three automated license plate reader systems used by MPD. NNS previously reported that the department also uses Genetec and Axon systems.
All three systems automatically capture license plate information that can be searched later.
As of June, MPD had access to: 35 Flock cameras; 39 Genetec cameras; and Axon license plate readers installed in 80 patrol vehicles.
New limits
Only MPD supervisors will be allowed to access automatic license plate reader systems, Johnson said in his announcement.
Some MPD personnel have been accused of misusing Flock. MPD officer Josue Ayala was convicted in June of attempted misconduct in public office in connection with his use of Flock cameras.
Access to Milwaukee’s license plate reader systems will also be limited to MPD, excluding other law enforcement agencies.
Supervisors may use the systems only to investigate Part I crimes, which include homicide, rape and aggravated assault, among others. They may also use the technology to investigate critical missing persons, drug trafficking organization and abductions.
A department said automatic license plate reader cameras will continue to passively capture data, but supervisors may access it only for appropriate investigations.
Transparency efforts
The mayor announced transparency measures as well.
MPD will create a public dashboard detailing its use of license plate reader systems, and the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission will conduct semi-annual independent audits of use.
Johnson said the commission has already initiated an audit of Flock systems.
The announcement does not specify what information will appear on the dashboard or what metrics the audits will examine.
NNS asked the mayor’s office whether MPD will write the changes into its policies and for additional details about the dashboard and audits.
The mayor’s office referred the questions to MPD, confirming that the police chief has authority over department policy.
Risks and concerns
After Johnson’s announcement, Amanda Merkwae, policy and advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said in a written statement the changes are “a step in the right direction” but that “Flock is still an incredibly invasive technology that has the power to indiscriminately surveil our communities on a mass scale.”
Merkwae argued that using Flock should require a warrant based on probable cause. She also called for independent oversight and written policies for all MPD surveillance technologies use.
“We cannot only accept a solution where police are responsible for policing themselves,” Merkwae said.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership betweenCatchLight LocalandReport for America.
Editor’s note: This storyhas been updatedwith new information from the Milwaukee Police Department.
Although Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson has announced new safeguards for the Milwaukee Police Department’s use of Flock Safety cameras, it remains unclear whether the rules will apply to all three of the city’s license plate reader systems or only to Flock.
Flock is one of three automated license plate reader systems used by MPD. NNS previously reported that the department also uses Genetec and Axon systems.
All three systems automatically capture license plate information that can be searched later.
As of June, MPD had access to: 35 Flock cameras, 39 Genetec cameras and Axon license plate readers installed in 80 patrol vehicles.
New limits
According to Johnson’s announcement, only MPD supervisors will be allowed to access Flock. Officers and detectives will no longer have access.
Some MPD personnel have been accused of misusing Flock. Former MPD officer Josue Ayala, was convicted in June of attempted misconduct in public office in connection with his use of Flock cameras.
Access to Milwaukee’s Flock cameras will also be limited to MPD, excluding other law enforcement agencies.
Supervisors will be allowed to use Flock cameras only for investigating Part I crimes, which include homicide, rape and aggravated assault, among others. They can also use the cameras in cases involving critical missing persons, drug trafficking organization investigations and abductions.
The mayor also announced transparency measures.
MPD will create a public dashboard with information about its use of Flock, and the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission will conduct twice-annual independent audits of the department’s Flock use.
Johnson said the commission has already begun an audit.
The announcement does not specify what information will appear on the dashboard or what metrics the audits will examine.
NNS asked the mayor’s office whether the safeguards would extend to Genetec and Axon, whether the changes would be written into MPD policies and what the dashboard and audits would include.
The mayor’s office referred the questions to MPD, saying that the police chief has authority over department policy.
MPD did not respond to questions from NNS.
Risks and concerns
After Johnson’s announcement, Amanda Merkwae, policy and advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said in a written statement the changes are “a step in the right direction” but that “Flock is still an incredibly invasive technology that has the power to indiscriminately surveil our communities on a mass scale.”
The use of Flock, Merkwae argued, should require a warrant based on probable cause. MPD should also face independent oversight and adopt written policies for all of the surveillance technologies it uses, she added.
“We cannot only accept a solution where police are responsible for policing themselves,” Merkwae said.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership betweenCatchLight LocalandReport for America.
Sheboygan’s police chief and city administrator plan to ask the common council to terminate the police department’s contract with Flock Safety during an upcoming meeting, according to an Aug. 25 statement.
The statement said the police department has been using automated license plate reader technology for over 10 years, while 15 Flock Safety cameras have been used since 2024.
“ALPR (automated license plate reader) technology and Flock-captured data have been successfully used to solve several serious criminal cases in the City,” the statement said.
Last month, the police department “became aware of actions by Flock Safety believed to be inconsistent with the terms and expectations of the City’s contract and which undermine trust in the services provided,” according to the statement.
“The Police Department confirmed the circumstances and will therefore ask the Common Council to terminate the contract,” the statement said.
Sheboygan Police Chief Kurt Zempel said the use of technology “is an important part of our effectiveness in providing justice and safety for our community.”
“But as with any system that involves access to powerful technology or sensitive information, strong internal controls and community trust are vital,” Zempel said. “That trust must extend to the partners who provide those services.”
The common council could vote to terminate the contract during a Sept. 8 meeting. Sheboygan Mayor Ryan Sorenson said public works staff have wrapped the cameras in plastic ahead of that meeting.
Sorenson said he supports the decision by the police chief and city administrator.
“Fundamentally, this is a bigger conversation that you’re seeing across the country,” Sorenson said. “And when you have powerful AI tools, we want to make sure that our community feels safe and trusted.”
Sorenson said the police chief has told him the technology has been used to help solve a few crimes.
“The crux of the decision that we’re making on this primarily comes from an erosion of trust from Flock itself and how they were using our data,” Sorenson said.
Sheboygan Ald. Susie Boorse, the common council president, said she also has concerns around the data usage related to the technology.
“I guess it boils down to the fact that we just can’t be too careful about how our data is being used,” Boorse said. “And in the end, while we obviously want public safety to be a priority, I think that we have to make those judgment calls about the way that we go about doing that, to the best of our capabilities.”
Meanwhile, Brookfield Ald. Catherine Kahler is asking the city to “review its use of automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology and participation in the Flock Safety network before our current agreement automatically renews in July 2027,” according to an Aug. 26 statement.
“I think we should understand how information collected through the system can be accessed and shared, what rights the vendor has regarding that information, how the technology and its capabilities are evolving, and whether our existing safeguards and oversight are sufficient,” Kahler said in the statement. “I also think it is appropriate to consider the implications of using public funds to participate in a privately operated system of this scale.”
Letter from Milwaukee council members calls for further reforms
This week, members of the Milwaukee Common Council sent a letter to Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman and the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, or FPC, about the use of the camera system by the police department.
It comes after the department announced changes to department access to the system and changes to its audit process this year. Those changes were made after a former Milwaukee police officer was charged with using the system to check the location of the vehicle of the person he was dating and that person’s ex.
The letter requested the commission look into more reforms related to the system and asked for a “complete history of all searches conducted by outside agencies using MPD camera data or conducted by MPD officers on behalf of outside agencies.”
It also asked that a policy be adopted to suspend access to the Flock system, “when there is credible evidence of intentional personal or unauthorized use.”
“This is an urgent moment, and a problem that will not correct itself,” the letter said.
In response to that letter, a spokesperson for the department said MPD “respects and values the concerns and positions of our elected officials.”
“We will work with the FPC to address our Council members’ concerns and respond to the Council after we have carefully reviewed their request and can provide a factual and thoughtful response,” the statement said. “The exchange of information, positions and ideas between MPD and our elected officials is important as we both serve the same community. MPD is committed to transparency and engaging in important dialogue such as this.”
Milwaukee has become part of a mass surveillance apparatus. Surveillance technology is dangerous, and few know that these are counterinsurgency tactics being practiced on residents by our own police department.
Integrated surveillance technology tactics, like drones, automatic license plate recognition (ALPR), video cameras, “Stingray” international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) catchers, and social media trackers, were developed during colonial endeavors and on battlefields like Vietnam, Colombia and the Middle East to pacify local populations.
These types of surveillance technologies made their way back for use against the domestic populace in the United States.
The dangers of Flock cameras
It’s unfortunate that the police have resorted to counterinsurgency tactics to surveil Milwaukee residents, but one is uniquely dangerous: automated license plate reading technology, more popularly known as Flock cameras.
Flock technology can establish a “pattern of life” for Milwaukee residents, especially when combined with other surveillance technologies, without a warrant or probable cause.
A “pattern of life” is the recurring patterns, behaviors and cycles that make up your average day-to-day activities. Establishing a pattern of life involves law enforcement collecting surveillance data and combining it to build a detailed picture of a person’s habits, routines, relationships and behavior. This includes where a person sleeps, when they leave, where they work, where they regularly meet, what vehicle they drive, which routes they take and much more.
Flock cameras and other automatic license plate recognition tools also record other information, such as make, model, color, body style, temporary tags, damage and stickers. They call it the “vehicle footprint” and use it when there is no license plate or the license plate is unreadable. These cameras actually record everything in a wide angle, but allegedly the interface that the local police can see only displays what I’ve mentioned.
The companies that make them, and theoretically anyone who accesses the recording, can see everything captured in the videos. That means faces, cellphones, clothes, actions – everything.
The Milwaukee Police Department combines this with open-source intelligence like Babel Street, which analyzes publicly available information, such as social media data. This means they can also begin to build out a psychological profile, ideology, interests and a network of associates.
Over-policing the community
The Milwaukee Police Department made more arrests for reckless driving in 2025 compared to 2024. (Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service file photo)
Although the MPD has acquired this technology under the pretext of solving crime, it indiscriminately monitors all Milwaukee residents’ whereabouts and online activities, and that does not make Milwaukee safer. Instead, it reinforces over-policing, and these technologies tend to be concentrated in Black and Latino communities.
Studies show that over-policing produces more crime because it deteriorates community-police relations, causing communities to abide by what sociologists call the “code of the street,” which causes retaliatory violence.
Researchers have clearly illustrated that most crime is a result of unmet needs, so if we intend to make Milwaukee safe, policing and surveilling the populace will not create a safe community. If people still have to survive harsh circumstances, the government can place all the surveillance technology and police they desire; people will still find ways to survive when faced with intense, concentrated poverty, hyper-segregation, economic exclusion and structural racism.
Furthermore, the current federal landscape has set a dangerous precedent for how it accesses and exploits the surveillance data collected by local police and sheriff’s departments. We must oppose and ban Flock automated license plate readers and any other technology that undermines civil liberties and privacy. The abuse of these technologies causes more problems for Milwaukee residents. We need to remove them to protect our privacy and democracy.
Nickolas X Dohertyis the Confronting Mass Incarceration coordinator at the Milwaukee Turners.
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service invites community members to submit opinion pieces of 500-800 words on topics of interest to central city Milwaukee. To send a submission for consideration, please email info@milwaukeenns.org. The views expressed are solely those of the authors.
Protesters burst into a Thursday news conference about the police shooting of a homeless man in Madison, taking the microphone from the police chief and arguing with some attendees who said they wanted to hear more about the investigation.
The group of roughly 20 protesters burst into the room at the Madison police station, shortly after Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Common Council President Sabrina Madison identified the man killed by police as Corey Durell Ruiz, a homeless resident.
Ruiz, 38, was shot and killed Wednesday after police said he resisted arrest and injured an officer with a knife.
Police Chief John Patterson stepped away from the microphone when the protesters were shouting, and one man in the group took his spot at the podium. The event quickly devolved into a shouting match.
A vigil for Corey Ruiz was held Thursday at the intersection of Williamson Street and South Baldwin Street in Madison, where Ruiz was fatally shot by a Madison police officer. We spoke to several Madison residents about the fatal shooting. Madison Police Department’s police chief, John Patterson, said Ruiz’s death will be investigated as a homicide during a press conference shortly before the vigil. The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting. #wisconsinwatch#coreyruiz#mpd#madisonshooting#madison
One protester held a sign saying “Corrupt cops deserve to die too!!!”
Moments earlier, the mayor said the shooting will be “rigorously investigated.”
“It does not matter who you are or what your past is, you should not lose your life as a result of an encounter with law enforcement,” Satya Rhodes-Conway said.
Madison, for her part, said “Corey could have been my brother because my brother is homeless and he often rides a bike.”
Court records show Ruiz had been in and out of jail over the past decade on charges including failing to pay child support, driving a vehicle without consent, jumping bail, threatening authorities, taking a vehicle without consent, possessing drug paraphernalia, resisting an officer and retail theft.
“He’s a human being. He had a family. He has parents who loved him who brought him home, who cared for him,” Madison said, adding that she’s struggling to understand what she’s seen in videos of the shooting that have circulated on social media.
“My first thought is, when the officer’s walking away, why isn’t he walking away in cuffs,” Madison said. “I’m angry, there’s no way around it.”
Once the protesters quieted down, the chief resumed his presentation, promising his department’s full cooperation with the state investigation.
Police have released few details
The shooting has roiled Wisconsin’s capital city, with Gov. Tony Evers calling for “transparency and accountability” and Madison community members gathering Thursday at a growing memorial.
Protesters march after a Madison police officer shot and killed a man, July 22, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Kayla Wolf / Associated Press)
None of the four officers who were detaining the man wore body cameras, but passersby recorded the confrontation on video, and accused the officers of overreacting.
“I thought, ‘Holy cow — what could have warranted that?’ It looked to me like they had him under control,” David Ortiz-Whittingham, who saw officers swarming and heard the gunshots, said Thursday. “Even now, knowing about the knife, did he have to die for it? Could this have been de-escalated without him losing his life?”
The police chief released few details Thursday, saying the investigation into the officer-involved shooting must run its course.
Earlier Thursday, Madison’s independent police monitor, Aeiramique Glass, said police have not yet shared evidence or the officer’s identity with her office, which will review the case and can recommend to the district attorney that charges be filed if warranted. She said the department and city are “obstructing what the community and the public” want.
“Let me do my job,” she said.
Patterson said the police were committed to cooperating with Glass as the independent monitor’s investigation is carried out, at the same time as the state’s probe.
The chief urged people not to draw conclusions
Patterson has urged caution in reading too much from the cellphone videos. He said none show the perspective of the officers, and additional video that hasn’t been released is being reviewed.
The officer who fired his weapon is a veteran of the force, the chief said. He and the three other responding officers will be placed on administrative leave pending an independent investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation, as required under state law.
Patterson said police were responding to calls that someone was attempting to enter parked vehicles, and the suspect fled on a bike before the officers surrounded him. One deployed a taser, but Patterson said he didn’t know if the taser worked. Those efforts failed to control the man, Patterson said.
In the videos circulating online, the man can be seen standing before he’s brought to his knees as the officers struggle to force him into a prone position. Then he falls quickly to the pavement after what sounds like three gunshots and seems motionless as the officers handcuff him behind his back. Arriving officers then escort one of the officers a short distance away.
Patterson said he did not know the extent of the injuries sustained by the officer who was injured by the knife.
“This situation was clearly dangerous,” Patterson said. He later continued, “I am incredibly saddened by the loss of life.”
A neighborhood now accustomed to police shootings
The shooting happened in the middle of an intersection in the popular Marquette neighborhood, which is lined with restaurants, bars, shops and homes less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the state Capitol. The bystander videos show numerous cars at the scene, with people watching and commenting as it unfolded.
A man crouches to light candles at a memorial site as mourners gather during a vigil at the site where Corey Ruiz was fatally shot by Madison police, July 22, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Wes Hogg for Wisconsin Watch)
“I saw everything! I saw everything! You did not need to kill him! … We watched it all!” a woman yelled in the video recorded by Ortiz-Whittingham. Three loud shots could be heard among the sirens, followed by screams.
Residents who dealt with two other police killings within the same few blocks expressed their frustration on Thursday.
In 2015, a white police officer shot and killed Tony Robinson, who was biracial, on the same street. Large protests followed, but the district attorney filed no charges, determining the officer was justified. In 2012, Paul Heenan, a white musician, was fatally shot after he had been drinking and mistakenly entered his neighbor’s house. That officer was exonerated as well.
The chief acknowledged that the neighborhood “has experienced a lot of trauma” and urged people to support one another.
“I want transparency, I want accountability,” Patterson said.
A man addresses a crowd as marchers and mourners converge at a vigil for Corey Ruiz, who was fatally shot by a Madison police officer, on July 22, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Wes Hogg for Wisconsin Watch)
Questions about race and technology emerge
The race of the officer who fired his gun on Wednesday and that of the man he killed were not released by police.
But Black advocacy groups, protesters and politicians spoke out against the crime and said they believe the man was Black.
The shooting also focused attention on the Madison Police Department’s lack of body-worn cameras. The force of around 500 is among the largest in the Midwest that doesn’t use the devices.
Common Council President Sabrina Madison said Thursday that she expects a police request for $400,000 to be approved, enabling the cameras to be phased in over the next three years. Others lamented that cameras aren’t already being used.
Attendees gesture during a candlelight vigil where a Madison police officer shot and killed a man Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Kayla Wolf / Associated Press)
“Nobody can agree on anything,” said Katey Nelson, a member of the police civilian oversight board and operations director at YWCA Madison, a racial justice group. “Now we’re here, looking at another police shooting where we don’t have what we need to make sure the officers are held accountable.”
The mayor said her budget, which has not yet been released, will include funding for body-worn cameras. Rhodes-Conway said the city needs to put together a policy for the use of the cameras, and said that will be completed before the budget takes effect in January.
And now it’s a talking point in the governor’s race
Wisconsin State Rep. Francesca Hong, a Democrat running for governor, embraces a woman at a vigil for Corey Ruiz, hours after a Madison police officer fatally shot Ruiz, on July 22, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (Wes Hogg for Wisconsin Watch)
Madison, home to the University of Wisconsin, has a long history of organized protest dating back to the 1960s. More than 100,000 people marched on the state Capitol in 2011 in favor of union rights. There were large demonstrations that turned violent after the death of George Floyd in 2020.
And so the shooting quickly infused itself into the race to succeed Evers as governor, with voting already underway in the Aug. 11 primary.
“This state sanctioned violence was an execution,” posted Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist candidate who appeared with a bullhorn at the scene just a few blocks from her campaign office. She has called for defunding the police.
Another Democrat in the race, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, said while the details must become public, “these reports are painfully reminiscent of the tragedies we have witnessed in Kenosha, Minneapolis, and far too many communities across our country.”
Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany called on his rivals to let the state investigation “establish the facts without politicians rushing to judgment or stoking division” in a statement that also said he would “work to end revolving-door criminal justice policies.”
Associated Press writers Ed White in Detroit and Jake Offenhartz in New York contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: The Associated Press erroneously reported George Floyd was shot and killed by police. An officer in Minneapolis murdered Floyd by pinning him to the pavement and putting a knee to his neck. This story has been updated to reflect the correction.
A Madison police officer shot and killed a man after that man produced a knife, Madison Police Chief John Patterson said.
The same officer who fired the shots was injured by the man’s knife, according to Patterson.
The incident happened at about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, according to an incident report posted by the Madison Police Department that afternoon. Multiple streets in the area were blocked off Wednesday afternoon — and crowds gathered in protest.
Patterson said officials had notified the deceased man’s family about his death. However, Patterson declined to disclose the man’s race or name during a news conference just before 5 p.m. Wednesday. He said the man was in his 30s.
Patterson said one officer fired shots, although a total of four officers were involved in the incident and have been placed on leave. The Division of Criminal Investigation at Wisconsin’s Department of Justice is investigating the incident.
Patterson said police initially responded to a call about a man who was checking cars in Madison’s Marquette neighborhood. When officers arrived, Patterson said the man fled on his bike.
The chief said the man produced a knife while officers were trying to arrest him.
“This is not a small folding knife,” Patterson told reporters. “It’s a large fixed blade knife that was there and present.”
During the incident, Patterson said, police used a stun weapon on the man.
“A less lethal device, a Taser, was deployed,” Patterson said. “Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful.”
During the incident, Patterson said a second officer was injured, but police do not believe that officer was injured by the man’s knife.
“It’s not clear how that occurred,” Patterson said.
A video posted to social media on Wednesday shows police cruisers arriving at an intersection with sirens on. A person can be seen riding into the intersection and then falling off a bike onto the pavement, before multiple officers are on top of the person. The video shows the person trying to get away. Then, an officer appears to fire multiple shots at the person.
Madison Police officers block the intersection of Williamson Street and S. Baldwin Street in Madison, Wis., after police shot and killed a man on July 22, 2026. (Alyssa Allemand / WPR)
The video was posted by Richard Hegwood, who lives at the intersection and witnessed the shooting. He told a reporter he began recording when he saw police chasing a man on a bike.
“They catch the dude, they have him on the ground. He’s struggling, he’s struggling to get up, and that’s when they shot him. They shot him three times,” Hegwood said. “I never saw a weapon. He never brandished a weapon.”
Hegwood said three officers had been struggling with the person before the shots were fired.
A second video from a closer vantage point was taken by resident Michael Doubek, who said he saw an officer knock the man from a bike.
“He was on the ground, he had nearly been handcuffed, he had already been tased,” Doubek said. “One of the officers says he has a knife, after which one of the officers pulls a taser, yells, ‘Taser taser taser,’ tases him. Then all three, all of them sort of all fall on the ground together, after which one of the cops stands up kind of on one knee and shoots him three times in the head point blank while he is on the ground.”
Doubek said he does not know the details of what led to the confrontation. “But from where I was standing 10 feet away, that looked an awful lot like an execution to me,” he said.
After the shooting, the area was closed off by police tape. The person’s bicycle remained on the ground.
Advocates for Madison’s Black community said the man killed was Black.
“Another Black man is dead on a Madison street, and our community watched him die before we even knew his name,” said Brandi Grayson, the head of the Madison-based Black community advocacy group Urban Triage. “That is the cruelty of state violence.”
Hundreds of protesters gathered near the scene Wednesday evening before marching together to the state Capitol where a Concerts on the Square event was underway.
Protesters chanted and held signs with slogans, including “no justice, no peace” and “Madison police executed a human today.” Some concertgoers showed support by clapping and raising fists.
The concert was eventually canceled by organizers.
Protesters gather at the Wisconsin Capitol during Concerts on the Square on July 22, 2026. The demonstration followed the fatal shooting of a man by a police officer on Madison’s east side earlier that day. (Angela Major / WPR)
During Wednesday’s news conference earlier in the afternoon, Patterson asked Madisonians to “please take a moment to to reflect and offer some support to one another.”
He referenced the man who died, and added, “I want to take a moment to honestly and sincerely offer my my heartfelt sympathies to his family for this loss.”
Wednesday’s shooting took place in the same neighborhood where a Madison police officer fatally shot Tony Robinson, a 19-year-old Black man, inside an apartment building in 2015.
Robinson was unarmed. The Dane County district attorney did not issue charges against that police officer, after determining the officer had reason to fear for his life after concluding that Robinson had physically assaulted the officer at the top of the stairs within the building.
“I want to start with an acknowledgement that today involves a very traumatic incident,” Patterson said, referencing the Robinson shooting during Wednesday’s news conference. “A traumatic incident that has occurred in a neighborhood that has experienced a lot of trauma in the past.”
In an update sent just before 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, District 6 Madison Ald. Davy Mayer said he was “aware of an officer-involved shooting on Williamson and Baldwin Street earlier this afternoon.”
“My priority is to make sure the community remains safe and that the public receives full details about what happened as soon as possible,” Mayer wrote in the blog post.
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